PEORIA — On the list of all-time great Manual basketball players, you won’t find Micheal Mosley.

In an era that included names like Howard Nathan and Lynn Collins, Mosley’s was not rolling off anyone’s tongue.

But Mosley was on the team when the Rams went to the Class AA IHSA state tournament in 1991 and got second place.

“There’s a difference between being on the team and playing when it comes to Manual basketball,” Mosley says with a laugh. “And I was definitely on the team.”

The state tournament experience is one Mosley still cherishes. It’s one he got to share this weekend with the Bloomington Purple Raiders, whom he has been coaching for six seasons.

“That’s the big thing for me,” Mosley says. “I’ve been here before. Now, I get to introduce this to others who’ve not.”

That the Raiders lost their Class 3A semifinal Friday to Oak Park Fenwick is largely irrelevant. For now, at least. Bloomington last won a state championship in 1916, when the ball had stitches and each successful field goal was followed by a center jump. Until this weekend, Bloomington hadn’t reached the state finals weekend since 1975. Until last season, the Raiders hadn’t won the two games necessary for a regional title since 2007.

But Mosley had this vision and a passion that had been burning in him since he was a little kid, growing up on Peoria’s West Bluff, just a chip shot away from Madison Golf Course. He couldn’t hit a baseball and was too little to play football. At least that’s the way Mosley remembers. But he loved basketball.

He could play it alone on his driveway, deep into a cold night. He could go watch Bradley games in the 1980s, because his dad had season tickets. In seventh grade, he and Roosevelt classmate Derrick Booth became ball boys for the Manual High Rams, and Mosley thought he must have gone to Heaven.

He was enthralled by the Manual coaches; the legendary “Godfather” Dick Van Scyoc, Wayne McClain, Chuck Westendorf would huddle in their office, breaking down strategy, trying to figure out how to attack their next opponent. This was what Mosley wanted to do. He absorbed everything.

But he didn’t pursue coaching as a means of supporting his family. He became a techie, earning his degree from Clark Atlanta University. His day job today is in the IT department for State Farm Insurance, and he can lay out for you some fascinating parallels between IT work and basketball. But for now, that’s another story.

Eight years ago, he landed an assistant coaching position at Bloomington Central Catholic. Two years later, the BHS job opened and when Mosley got his interview, he spelled out his vision for a program that would build positive relationships, teach kids to be respectful of the jersey and reflect well on the school and the city. And win games, too.

His first season, the Raiders went 3-26.

“I knew I couldn’t turn Bloomington into Manual,” Mosley says. His alma mater, after all, has won five state championships, one national championship bestowed by USA Today, and produced three Illinois Mr. Basketball winners.

He heard the catcalls from the crowd that first season: “This isn’t Peoria! This isn’t Manual!”

No, Mosley knew. But it could be a damn site better than 3-26.

“He’s done just a remarkable job,” Fenwick coach Rick Malnati says. Malnati, a former Bradley player whom Mosley watched as a child, remembers “the kid who coached Bloomington today” from summer basketball camps. “Anyone who could take that program from where it was …

“Put it this way. Anyone who comes from Manual is a guy I respect. His team is trying to do the same things they do at Manual.”

The Raiders play man-to-man, full-court. They jump passing lanes, contest the dribble, push the pace on offense, put pressure on opponents going both ways. Those are Manual Rams trademarks. Since that first season, Mosley’s teams area 101-46 and recognized as a potentially budding power.

Manual, by the way, is coached by Mosley’s old friend, Derrick Booth. Last year, they met for the Peoria Sectional championship. Manual won.

“We hit that hurdle last year and regrouped,” Mosley says. The Raiders beat Washington to win the sectional title this year, then won their supersectional to reach the state semifinals, where they played Fenwick a much closer game than the final score indicated.

“Hopefully, this was our obstacle this year and it’s another step in the learning process,” Mosley says. “I know it’s hard to get back, but it’s my job to convince these kids they can do it again. My job is to make sure this isn’t the last time the state of Illinois gets to see how these kids play.”

You get a strong feeling he will succeed.

Kirk Wessler is Journal Star sports editor. Contact him at kwessler@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @KirkWessler.